Can arranging machine



Sept. 4, 1934. 'w D, KlMBALL ET AL 1,972,488

CAN ARRANGING MACHINE Original Filed May 1, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 M ATTORNEY5 a Sheets-Sheet 2 W. D. KIMBALL El AL CAN ARRANGING MACHINE Original Filed May 1, 1931 Sept. 4, 1934.

Sept. 4, 1934. who. KIMBALL El AL CAN ARRANGING MACHINE Original Fil e d Ma 1, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 4, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAN ARRANGING MACHINE Application May 1, 1931, Serial No. 534,226

Renewed October 27, 1933 14 Claims.

in cans it is the common practice to handle such cans during the cooking operation in large metal baskets holding a hundred or more cans. After the desired period of cooking the metal basket containing the hot cans is transported by an overhanging conveyor to the labeling or packing department and the cans discharged on a suitable table or hopper in a pile from which they must be taken by hand and delivered in proper position and spaced relation to the feed conveyors which carry them to the labeling machine or other destination. 7

The particular object of the present invention is to provide a machine which will receive the cans in bulk from the steel basket in which they are delivered from the cooker and sort them out without hand labor of'any kind and deliver them to .the labeling machine in the desired order.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention 3 as now employed in commercial practice.

In said drawings,

, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine (with a load of cans about to be delivered thereto; Fig. 2 is a perspective view looking from the delivery end of the machine;

Fig. 2a is an extension of Fig. 2 showing the delivery conveyor;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on line 4- of Fig. 3; p

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 3, the parts being shown on a somewhat enlarged scale;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig.

3, the parts being shown on an enlarged scale; and

Figs. '7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 are detail views of different parts of the machine showing the movements of the cans at certain points in the operation of the machine.

frame of the machine which, as shown, is prefei-ably lower at the can-receiving end than at the delivery end. The frame consists of longitudinal steel members 2 riveted or welded together in any approved manner. Supported between the longi- Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates thev lying on the belt in the positions described.

tudinal members 2-at1 the can-receiving end of the machine is a wide conveyor belt 3 continuously driven through connections to be later described, from a suitabledriving'motor4 and reducing gear 5 supported in a suitable sub-frame at the other end of the machine.

The upper reach of the belt 3 is supported on transverse rollers 6 spaced sufficiently close to-. gether for the belt to support, without undue sagging, a charge of cans received fromthe steel basket '7 of the cooker.

Suitably supported on the frame of the machine above the belt 3 is a fiat hopper formed of two side plates 8 arranged with their inner edges slightly overlying-adjacent edges of the belt 3 and with an intermediate end plate 9 having its. inner edge overlying the pulley 10' upon which the belt 3 is supported at the outerend'of the machine. The outer edges of the plates 8 and 9, forming the hopper, are raised slightly above 76 the inner edges so that the cans discharged on the plates will roll down onto the belt to becarried forward by the belt along with the-cans discharged directly onto the belt.

The. belt 3 passes over a pulley 11 near the 80 middle of the machine and immediately in advance of this pulley there is a second feed belt 12 of the same width as the belt 3 but with its end adjacent the belt 3 at a somewhat lower level than the belt 3. The belt 12 is supported '85 on pulleys 13 and 14, respectively, mounted in the side members 2 of the frame and continuously driven from the driving motor 4, as will be later described.

Overlying the upper reach of the belt 12 are a plurality of bars 15 extending longitudinally of the machine and at an elevation above the surface of the belt somewhat less-than the diameter of the cans. The bars are supported at their ends adjacent the belt 3 on a cross member 16 between the pulleys 11 and 13 and the 'ends 'of the bars extend to a point closely adjacent the face of the pulley 11 andat a height somewhat below the upper face of the belt 3.

The bars 15 are spaced apart adistance somewhat greater than the diameter of the cans but substantially less than the length of the cans so that in order for any can to come in contact with the belt 12 it must be either standing on end or lying on its side with its longitudinal-axis parallel with the line of movement of the belt. Cans in any other positions discharged onto the bars will be supported wholly by the bars and carried along only by engagement with the cans Buttons or lugs 1'? of the shape shown more specifically in Figs. 6 and 7 are attached to the bars 15 at intervals and in staggered relation, as shown, said buttons serving, as willbe later described, to engage the cans not resting squarely on the belt as described, and deflect such cans into position to drop between the bars onto the belt.

In advance of the belt 12 is a third belt 18 the upper face of which lies in a plane just slightly higher than the plane of the upper surface of the belt 12, thetwo belts being separated from each other by a scuff plate 19, shown in enlarged detail in Fig. 11.

The side plates 8 of the hopper extend to a point adjacent the ends of the rods 15 and beyond this point narrower side plates 20 are provided extending the length of the machine frame to insure that all cans delivered to the machine will ultimately roll down onto one or the other of the feed belts to be delivered in proper sequence at thedelivery end of the machine. The rods 15 also extend to the rear end of the machine and are supported near their rear ends by suspension rods 21 depending from a cross bar 22 extending across the machine at a height not to interfere with the passage of the cans thereunder.

Also carried by the cross bar 22 is a deflector plate 23, shown in detail in Fig. 9. This deflector plate has its upper edge projecting toward the oncoming cans and is positioned at such a height that the upper edge of such cans as are standing on end on the belt 18 will engage the face of the plate and will be turned down onto their sides between the bars through the con- ,tinued advance of the belt l8.'

From the belt 18 the cans lying on their sides between the guide rods are delivered into a delivery chute 24 which directs the cans sidewise 'out of the machine. The delivery chute is shown particularly in Fig. 6 and comprises a sheet metal chute extending transversely of the machine and of a width just sufficiently greater than the length of the'cans to permit the cans to roll freely through the chute. The chute is divided at its upper or can-receiving end into separate passages corresponding with the passages between e division members or plates g. 6 are suspended from the by the belt 18. 25 as shown in bars 15 which extend over the chute and are supportedby -cross pins 26 extending into the walls of the chute to thereby form a series of parallel passages extending downwardly and to one side to direct the cans out of the machine.

The cans from the several lanes between the bars 15 are brought together by theconverging sides of the chute 24 into a single layer resting on the bottom wall 2'! of the chute. At this point all the cans will be lying on their sides with their longitudinal axes parallel with the length of the machine and will be rolled transversely out of the machine as fast as permitted by the delivered cans. It sometimes happens, however, particularly when the last cans of the charge are reaching the chute, that a can will be turned in the chute and will-reach the bottom plate 2'? with its axis transverse to the .longitudinal line of the machine instead of parallel thereto. That is to say, the can will be advancing endwise through the chute instead of sidewise. To remove such cans from the machine without clogging the normal passage of the cans therethrough, the plate 27 is slotted at the bottom through a portion of its length, as shown in Fig. 10, whereby such cans will drop through the plate 27 onto a deflector 28 and thence to the floor where they can be readily picked up and returned to the machine. If the labelling or packing of the cans is to be carried on on the floor below, the delivery chute 24 will connect with a gravity chute to direct the cans'to the labelling machine or packing machine. If, however, the labelling and packing are to be done on the same floor (or the floor above), it is desirable to elevate the cans in a single continuous row from the chute 24. To this end we provide an elevating conveyor consisting of a pair of conveyor belts 30 spaced apart a distance equal to the diameter of the cans. Both belts are preferably continuously driven at the same speed whereby the cans will be carried up between the belts without rolling.

To cause the belts to properly grip the cans we provide a bar or plate 31 overlying the bottom reach of the upper belt 30 and carrying on its under face a series of spring plates 32 pressing against the back of the belt, as shown in Fig. 6.

The belts 3, 12 and 18 are not driven at the same speed. The belt 3 is driven at a comparatively slow speed, say fifteen feet per minute. The belt 12 is driven at a much higher speed, that is, in the neighborhood of -65 feet per minute, while the belt 18 is driven at a still greater speed, or about twice the speed of the belt 12. The cans leaving the end of belt 18 will consequently be projected against the outer vertical wall of delivery chute 24, the flat ends of the cans striking this flat, vertical surface. This will tend to set the cans at right angles to this wall so that they may fall sideways in proper position to roll along the delivery chute instead of merely being pitched over the curved surface of pulley 42 and sliding endways down the delivery chute.

The belts are all driven from the motor 4 vthe pulley 11 of the receiving belt 3 is driven through a sprocket chain 40 and sprocket wheels of different sizes so as to reduce the speed of the belt 3 to the desired extent. In like manner the pulley 42 of the belt 18 is driven through chain 41 from a large sprocket wheel on the shaft of pulley 14 to thereby drive belt 18 at an increased speed.

In the operation ofthe machine a load of cans 1s dumped from the steel basket 7 onto the belt 3 and the adjacent plates of the hopper 8. To this end the baskets 7 are made with one side hinged so that the attendant may swing the baskets over the belt and hopper and by opening the side gradually, allow the cans to roll out onto the belt and hopper without sufficient violence to damage the cans. The slowly moving belt 3 moves the cans away as they are discharged from the basket with the cans in various positions, some lying on their sides, some on end, and others resting partly or wholly on the cans beneath.

The inclined sides of the hopper on the forward movement of the cans cause the cans to gradually converge toward the middle of the machine as they reach the pulley 11. As the cans pass over the pulley 11 most of the cans which are resting on end will be turned down on their sides by the crown of the pulley 11 if there is sumcient space for them to fall, so that the majority of the cansreaching the bars 11 will'be lying on their sides and will either fall between the bars, if extending in a generally longitudinal direction, or across the bars usually with one end or. the other extending partly between the bars as shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

The bars are spaced on centers just greater 6 than the length of the cans but the bars are of such a size that their adjacent edges are spaced apart less than the length of the can. Hence a can lying on the bars will have one end or the other either extending down between the bars as shown in full lines in the drawings, Figs. 7 and 8, or will -just barely engage the bars at both ends as shown in dot-and-dash lines. Ordinarily the cans resting in this last described position will have slipped down into the full line position by the action of gravity before the edge of the can engages the button 17 on the upper face of the rods 15, but whether or not the can has reached the full line position by the time it engages the button, the button would cause the can to turn into vertical position as illustrated in Figs. '7 and 8.

As shown, the buttons are substantially kiteshaped with the longer point projecting toward the oncoming cans and hence with its inclined edge in position to engage the bottom edge of the can advancing along the rods. This inclined face of the button pushes the end of the can inwardly', that is, toward the opposite rod on which the can is resting, and as the rods are sufiiciently elevated above the belt for the can not to engage the belt until clear of the rod, the can offers but little resistance to this movement. That is, the center of gravity of the can is lowered by the action-of the buttons, as will be obvious from the successive positions of the can illustrated in Fig. 8.

There is therefore only the slight friction of the can against the rods and the button to be overcome in this shifting of the cans into upright position. The buttons are staggered on the rod 15 as described. As shown, for example, the second and forth rod of the five shown in the drawings have their first buttons positioned toward the pulley 11 and the first, third and fifth bars have their first buttons spaced beyond .the first-mentioned buttons so that no can can be engaged by more than one button. Ordinarily the cans will be all arranged between the bars 15 either lying on their'sides or standing on end by the time the second row of buttons is passed. However, in case the cans may be unusually piled up on the bars so that they h ve not been reduced to a single layer by the time the second row of buttons is reached, an additional row of buttons may be provided as indicated in the drawings.

As stated above, the belt 12 moves at a speed several times that of the belt 3 so that although the cans may be piled up on each other to a conslderable extent when discharged onto the bars above the belt 12, the rapid movement of the belt 12 will thin them out into substantially a single layer with some standing on end, some lying on their sides, and some lying on the bars in the positions described, and by the time the scufi plate 19 is reached all the cans will be in a single layer resting on the belt between the bars either on their sides or on end.

The purpose of the scuff plate is to cause the cans standing on end to be turned down onto their sides. To this end the scufi plate, instead of being fiat, is inclined slightly upward toward its far edge, that is, the edge overlying the belt 18, and the belt 18 is elevated slightly above the belt 12. Hence as the cans are pushed forward across the scuff plate by the oncoming cans carried by the u belt 12, they will be tipped slightly backwards time the cans reach the delivery end of the belt and when the front edge of the can engages the more rapidly moving belt 18 they will be jerked forwardly and slightly upwardly, thereby causing the bottom of the can to move forwardl'y more rapidly thanthe upper part, with the result that the can wou'ldturn backward unless there was a second upright can immediately behind it, in which case it may be carried forward by the belt 18 standing on end. The more rapid movement of the belt 18 will usually space the cans sufliciently apart for all the cans to be turned backward by the scuif plate, but in case any cans remain upright they will engage the deflector plate 23'and be turned back as shown in Fig. 9, so that by the operate equally well on cans in whatever manner they may be delivered to the belt 3 and hopper 8. It will also be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction herein shown and described, but that the same may be widely varied within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

The word can" as usedin the appended claims is not to be construed as a limitation, but is intended to include articles of such shape and dimensions as to be handled by the machine described and claimed.

This application is in part a continuation of application Serial No. 517,748, filed February 24, 1931, by Wallace D. Kimball and Cornelius I. 115 Braren.

We claim:

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a conveyor adapted to receive a batch of cans, a second conveyor in advance of the first-mentioned conveyor and adapted to receive the cans therefrom, means coacting with said conveyors -and adapted to cause said cans to be arranged in rows as advanced by said second conveyor, said second conveyor operating at a greater speed than the first-mentioned conveyor, and means for turning on their sides cans which are standing on end on the second conveyor comprising a third conveyor operating at a greater speed than the second conveyor, the jerk imparted to the bottoms of upright cans when they reach said third conveyor causing them to upset and fall on their sides.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a hopper for receiving a batch of cans in haphazard positions, a conveyor having a continuous motion for advancing said cans, a plurality of parallel rods above the conveyor for arranging said cans in rows, deflectors for turning into vertical position cans having their longi- 0 tudinal axes transverse to the line of advancement of said cans, and means for turning the cans standing on end into horizontal position with their axes in line with the direction of advancement to thereby arrange all said cans in a plurality of 1.35 t longitudinal rows.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a conveyor adapted to advance a pluralit'y of cans, a series of stationary rods overlying said conveyor and onto which said cans are 156 delivered, said rods being spaced apart a distance intermediate the diameter and height of said cans,

and a deflector on each of said rods comprising an upstanding projection adapted to engage the cans lying wholly or partly on said rods and deflect them into positions to lie wholly between adjacent rods.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a conveyor adapted to advance a plurality of cans, a series of rods overlying said conveyor and onto which said cans are delivered, said rods being spaced apart a'distance intermediate the diameter and height of said cans, a series of deflectors for said rods adapted to engage the cans lying wholly or partly on said rods and deflect them into positions to lie wholly between adjacent rods, the deflectors of each rod being staggered with respect to the deflectors for the adjacent rods.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a conveyor for advancing a plurality of cans, means for deflecting cans advanced by said conveyor in vertical position to horizontal position, said means comprising a second conveyor operating at a greater speed than said firstmentioned conveyor, and an inclined plate intermediate said conveyors adapted to tilt said vertically arranged cans as they are advanced onto said second conveyor, the jerk imparted to the bottoms of upright cans when they reach said second conveyor causing them to upset and fall on their sides.

6. In a machine of the class described, a conveyor for advancing a plurality of rows of-cans lying in horizontal position with their axes parallel with the direction of advancement and means for collecting cans from a plurality of rows into a single row comprising a series of downwardly and laterally extending chutes superposed one above the other and arranged with their upper ends underlying the respective rows of advancing cans and a common runway underlying said chutes in position to receive the cans discharged from said chutes.

"I. In a machine of the class described, a conveyor for advancing a plurality of rows of cans lying in horizontal position with their axes parallel with the direction of advancement, means for/ collecting cans from a plurality of rows into a single row comprising a series of downwardly and laterally extending chutes superposed one above the other and arranged with their upper ends underlying the respective rows of advancing cans and a common runway underlying said chutes in position to receive the cans discharged from said chutes, said runway having an opening through which any cans whose longitudinal axes do not extend transversely of said runway may be discharged.

8. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a conveyor adapted to advance a plurality of cans, a series of rods overlying said conveyor and onto which said cans are delivered, said rods being spaced apart a distance intermediate the diameter and height of said cans and elevated above said convevor sufficiently to prevent cans resting on the rods from engaging the conveyor,

said cans being propelled by contact with other cans resting on the conveyor, and deflectors adapted to engage the cans resting on the rods and shift them towards upright position between the rods. 1

9. In a machine for arranging filled cans in the lower edges of said side plates, said plates and belt comprising an approximately flat table for receiving a pile ofcans arranged in haphazard formation, said belt and said plates being of such relative width that only the central portion of said pile is supported on the belt while the comparatively wide side portions of the pile are supported on said plates,,the movement of said belt being thereby adapted to carry forward only the cans of the central portion of said pile leaving the sides of the pile resting upon said side plates thereby gradually elongating said pile'of cans, said side plates being sloped "only sufliciently to cause the cans at the sides of said pile to gently descend onto said belt as the cen-' tral portion of the pile is moved forward, a. second conveyor belt adjacent the ends of said side plates which are opposite to said end plate, a plurality of spaced substantially parallel bars mounted above said second belt and extending longitudinally thereof, the delivery end of said first mentioned belt being arranged above the said bars thereby permitting said elongated pile of cans to be gradually discharged upon said bars and said second belt, and deflectors. on each of said bars for arranging said cans in rows between the bars as they are moved forward over said second belt.

10. In a machine for arranging filled cans in rows, two side can-receiving plates and an end can-receiving plate, and a conveyor belt between the lower edges of said side plates, said plates and belt comprising an approximately flat table for receiving a pile of cans arranged in haphazard formation, said belt and said plates being of such relative width that only the central portion of said pile is supported'on the belt while the comported on said'plates, the movement of said belt being thereby adapted to carry forward only the cans of the central portion of said pile leaving the sides of the pile resting upon said side plates thereby gradually elongating said pile of cans, said side plat-3's being sloped only sumcient ly to cause the cans at .thesides of said pile to gently descend onto said belt as the central portion of the pile'is moved forward, a second conveyor belt adjacent the ends of said side plates which are. opposite to said .end plate, aplurality of spaced substantially parallel bars mounted above said second belt and extending longitudinally thereof, the delivery end of said first mentioned belt being arranged above the said bars thereby permitting said elongated pile of cans to be gradually discharged upon said bars and said second belt, the full height of said central portion of said pile being carried forward by said first mentioned belt and the pile graduallylevelling lying said conveyor and onto which said cans are delivered, said rods being arranged in spaced substantially parallel relation longitudinally of the conveyor, a deflector on each of said rods comprising an upstanding projection adapted to engage the cans lying wholly or partly on said rods and deflect them into positions to lie wholly between adjacent rods.

12. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a conveyor adapted to advance a plurality of cans, a series of rods overlying said conveyor and onto which said cans are delivered, said rods being arranged in spaced substantially parallel relation longitudinally of said conveyor and forming guideways between them for said cans, a series of deflectors for said rods adapted to engage the cans lying wholly or partly on said rods and deflect them into positions to lie wholly between adjacent rods, the deflectors for each rod being staggered with respect to the deflectors for the adjacent rods.

13. In a machine of the class described the combination of a conveyor adapted to advance a plurality of cans, a plurality of rods overlying said conveyor and onto which said cans are delivered, said rods being arranged in spaced substantially parallel relation longitudinally of said conveyor, and deflectors on each of said rods comprising one or more upstanding projections adapted to engage the cans lying wholly or part- 1y on said rods and deflect them into positions to lie wholly between adjacent rods, the said upstanding projections on each rod being staggered with respect to the projections for the adjacent rods.

14. In a machine of the class described, a conveyor for advancing a plurality of rows of cans lying in horizontal spaced position with their axes parallel with the direction of advancement, means for collecting cans from a plurality of rows into a single row comprising a series of downwardly and laterally extending chutes arranged with their upper ends underlying the respective rows of advancing cans, said chutes having each a ver tical rear wall opposite the end of said conveyor, the cans being thrown endwise against said wall by the conveyor and thereby positioned to roll sideways down said chutes, and a common runway underlying said chutes in positionto receive the cans discharged from said chutes.

WALLACE D. KIMBALL. CORNELIUS BRAREN. JOHN H. MOSLE Y. 

